Sulfur-retort



F. W. BECRAFT AND A. L. GENTEB.

SULFUR RETORT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25. 1919.

I A TTORNE V INVENTOBS Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEETI F. W. BECRAFT AND A. L. GENTER.

SULFUR RETORT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.25

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED srATEs PATENT orrrcn.

FRANK W. BECRAFT AND ALBERT L. GENTER, F SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, ASSIGNORS T0 UNITED FILTERS CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE.

SULFUR-RETORT.

Application flied February 25, 1919. Serial No. 279,203.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that we, FRANK W. BECRAFT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Salt Lake City, county of Salt Lake, and State of Utah, and ALBERT L. GENTER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Salt Lake City, county of Salt Lake, and

' State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sulfur-Retorts, of which the following is a specification.

Our present invention relates to sulfur retorts or apparatus employed for the extraction of sulfur from sulfLu-bearing materials, and more particularly comprehends certain new and structural features which tend toward simplicity and efliciency in mode of operation.

Our present invention constitutes an improvement upon the structure set forth in the co-pending application of l/Villiam E. Clifford and Thomas H. Green, Serial No. 273,029, filed January 25th, 1919, wherein is disclosed an apparatus in which a cage for the stratified sulfur bearing rock or other material to be fused is revolubly mounted within a housing and is endwise movable therefrom for emptying or filling purposes. The cage and its associated movable parts are required to be made of 'rugged construction to withstand movement under load and furthermore the endwise movement of the cage under load requires considerable power.

Our invention consists in arranging the shell or casing to move lineally away from the revolving cage which we mount permanently upon the driving shaft, thus enabling the expeditious filling or emptying of the cage in a simple, economical manner and at the consumption of less power than is required when the cage is moved relatively to the casing.

Another feature of our improvement relates in arranging within the cage, partitions forming compartments for the sulfur ore, so that the center of gravity of the mass will be kept closer to the axis of rotation than would otherwise be the case were no partitions used. Thus the cage when only partly filled with sulfur bearing mate rial will be more evenly balanced and consequently will require 'eonsiderablv less power to cause it to rotate about its axis.

Specification of Letters Patent.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, thenovel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following descriptions and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a horizontalsectional view of an apparatus showing the parts in inoperative position; that is, with the shell removed and the cage in position to be filled or emptied as the case may be.

Fig. 2 is a view thereof in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the cage showing the arrangement of the load distributing partitions, dividing the cage into halves, providing compartments for the stratified sulfur bearing rock.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of a modification showing the employment of partitions dividing the cage into quarters, whereby a more evenly balanced distribution may be obtained.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the respective views.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the apparatus is mounted upon a frame work formed of a pair of spaced longitudinally arranged I-beams or girders A fastened to and supported by suitable floor blocks B. Between the I beams and supported to r0 tate within a frame 1 is a cylindrical cage 2. The frame 1 at one end is fastened to and supported by the end closure or cover 3 for the movably mounted shell or easing 4;, while the opposite end of the frame 1 is supported by the wheels 5, which rest upon and traverse a. pair of rails 6, arranged within. the shell 4:. The cage is mounted upon a driving shaft 7 which finds a bearing adjacent one end at 8 and a hearing at 9 in the frame 1. The shaft penetrates the cover 3 through a suitable stufling box 8*. The shell 4 is provided with two sets of wheels 10 and 11 operating upon rails or tracks 12 mounted upon the side beams 8, the shell being arranged for linear movement in order to house or unhouse the cage 2 as circumstances might require.

The shaft 7 is driven through the worm wheel 13 which cooperates with a worm 1 upon a counter-shaft 15 through which power from any suitable source (not shown) is applied. In order to move the casing l to either closed or open position, we employ a suitable mechanism including endless chains or cables 16 arranged at both sides of the apparatus these passing over pulleys 17 and 18 at opposite ends of the side beams, said cables being fastened to links 19 cooperating with extensions to the axles supporting the wheels 11. The pulleys 17 are mounted upon the shaft 20. Upon this shaft and within a suitable housing 21 is a worm wheel which is in driving connection with a worm in a housing 22, the latter worm being directly driven by a suitable motor 23.

The shell 4: when in closed position is locked to the head 3 by locking mechanism, the functioning of which secures a positive gas-tight join This locking mechanism comprises a plurality of radially disposed levers 24: carried by a collar 25 slidably mounted upon the shaft 7. The levers 24 have their free ends slightly curved or camshaped and slidably operate between lugs 26, projecting from the front face of the cover 3. These curved ends interlock with suitable eyes or U-shaped retaining members 27 mounted upon the shell 4 at one end and around the periphery thereof. The collar 25 is associated with shaft 28 through the crank levers 29 and 30, so that upon I turning the shaft 28 by the hand lever 31,

the radially disposed links 24 may have imparted to them a spreading movement so as to interlock with the hook members 27 of the shell 4. 32 indicates a valve controlled discharge outlet for the molten sulfur and 33 indicates an inlet for live steam.

The cage 2 is formed of a series of rods or pipes 34 arranged in the shape of a cylinder or drum. being-supported on ring-like supports 35 which are in turn fastened to spiders 36 radiating from a split collar 37, these being several in number and being disposed equi-distant along the cage so as to properly support the same. The pipes 34 are closely aggregated but sufficient space is allowed to permit the molten sulfur to escape and flow into the outer casing from which it is drawn ofi' as desired. The split collars 37 surround and are fastened to the main driving shaft 7 and separating the split collars are sleeves 38. The sections of the split collar are bolted together by suitable fastening means 39. In order to form a rigid connection between the cage and shaft 8, so that thetwo will rotate in unison; a bolt 40 penetrating the collar 37 and having suitable keyed connection with the shaft 7 is employed for this purpose. The tubes 34 are-supported upon the ring members 35 by suitable clamping member 41. The cage is provided with one or more hingedly arranged door sections 42 by means of which it may be filled or emptied of the stratified sulfur bearing material.

The interior of the cage is divided by partitions a3 which may be of any desired number, these partitions extending longitudinally of the cage and are preferably supported by supporting means 44 fastened to the sleeves 38, the partitions extending tween certain of the radiating spider arms 36. These partitions terminate short of the inner periphery of the cage or drum so as to allow a certain amount of material to pass from one compartment to another during the rotation of the cage. The partitioning of the cage as heretofore stated functions to keep the center of gravity of the material closer to the cages axis of rotation. Obviously when the cage is so divided by partitions, a separate discharge door will be required for each compartment.

In Fig. 3, we have illustrated it as divided into two compartments, whereas in Fig. i it is illustrated as being divided into four compartments. Any desired number of compartments may be employed. A further advantage of distributing the load by means of these partitions resides in minimizing the amount of power required to rotate the cage when the cage is only partly filled with the material to be treated.

. The operation of the device is thought to be clear from the above description. It might be summarized in the following manner: The sulfur bearing material is placed within the cage whereupon the shell is lineally moved to house the cage. The cover is then securely locked to the shell and hot steam admitted through the port 33, whereupon power is applied to the shafts 15 and 7 so that the cage will rotate at a slow rate of speed for the required length of time to melt the sulfur from the sulfur bearing material. 'When the fusing is completed, the valve in the discharge outlet 32 is opened and the molten sulfur permitted to flow out. The shell is then withdrawn so that the cage can be emptied of its contents and replenished for further operation.

While we have illustrated what we believe to be a preferable embodiment of the principles of our invention, we have done so in an illustrative rather than definitive sense, wishing it to be understood that we reserve unto ourselves such modifications of structure and arrangement of parts as may be deemed practicable without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention as defined by the following claims.

While the apparatus embodying the principles of our invention is illustrated and described as a sulfur retort, we do not limit ourselvesto this use as manifestly theprinciples may be embodied in retorts for the handling of other materials to equal advanmeats? tage and therefore Where we use in the appended claims the terms sulfur retort, sulfur bearing material, etc., we do not do so in a limiting way, as We desire to cover the principles of our invention irrespective of the character of the retorts or the kind of material to be treated.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new herein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A sulfur retort comprising a revoluble cage for sulfur rock and a casing therefor, said casing being provided with a stationary head and a movable shell portion and means for moving the shell portion lineally with respect to the head.

A sulfur retort comprising a casing formed with a stationary head and a shell movable linearly toward and away therefrom, a frame projecting from the stationary head and arranged to telescope within the shell, a shaft extending through the head and journaled upon the frame, and a rotary cage carried by the shaft.

3. A sulfur retort comprising a casing formed with a'stationary head and a shell movable linearly toward and away therefrom, track irons within the shell, 2. frame projecting from the head and arranged to telescope within the shell, rollers supporting the free end of the frame and traveling upon the track irons, a shaft extending through the head and journaled upon the frame, a rotary cage mounted upon the shaft, and a carriage supporting the shell.

4. sulfur retort comprising a revolub'ly mounted cage for sulfur rock, an inclosing housing therefor comprising a movably mounted shell portion and a stationary. head closure therefor, means for supporting the cylindrical shell portion, and means for moving the shell portion to expose the cage.

5, A sulfur retort comprising a casing, a revoluble cage, track irons within the cas ing, a carriage movable on said track irons and supporting the cage, a shaft upon which the cage is mounted, driving means for said shaft and means for moving the casing lineally away from the cage to expose the same.

6. A. sulfur retort comprising a casing, a receiving cage for sulfur rock, means for revolubly supporting the cage within the casing when closed and means for opening the casing to expose the cage, a stationary head for said casing and manually operating means associated with said head and cooperating with said casing for effecting a positive locking connection between the two.

7. A. sulfur retort including a casing, a cylindrical cage revolubly mounted Within the casing, and radially disposed and longitudinally extending partitions dividing the cage into compartments, said partitions being insufiicient in Width to extend from the center to the periphery thereof and leaving open spaces through which the compartments communicate with each other.

8. A sulfur retort including a casing, a cylindrical cage revolubly mounted within the casing, and radially disposed and longitudinally extending partitions dividing the cage into compartments, said partitions terminating short of the periphery of the cage so that the compartments communicate with each other at the outer ends of the partitions.

9., In a sulfur retort, a cage, a shaft for supporting said cage and around which same is rotatable, longitudinal partitions extending from said shaft outwardly to- Ward the inner periphery-of the cage but terminating short thereof, said partitions dividing the interior mg with an adjacent one.

FRANK W. BECRAFT. ALBERT L. GENTER.

of the cage into compartments, each compartment communicat- 

